DavidB ‘Care About The Journey’ Review

DavidB has become one of my favourite UK artists over the past few years. His silky smooth, sultry voice has been a breath of fresh air to RnB and his harmonies, distinctive tone and vocal arrangements now synonymous with the name DavidB, the singer-songwriter’s new project ‘Care About The Journey’ was one I anticipated playing again, again, and again; and then maybe some more.

‘Care About The Journey’ gets started with ‘Intro,’ an acapella that will introduce listeners to DavidB’s voice, texture and range, most likely leaving the listener wanting more, and for those who already know of DavidB’s music will be reminded of just how talented he is and leave them in anticipation.

Unfortunately the first proper song of the project ‘Ijo Ya’ doesn’t deliver. Having come to know DavidB for strong RnB/Slow Jam’s ‘Ijo Ya’ left me wanting to skip due to weak production that didn’t seem to sit with his vocals. Thankfully hope for ‘Care About The Journey’ was restored after skipping to ‘Cold Quickly’ which begins with a TLC ‘No Scribs’ reminiscent synth and then quickly divulges into melodious guitar trills and more typical RnB production which had me nodding my head enjoying his Brandy-like harmonies and live bass parts which added life, movement and groove to the track on which DavidB expresses that “I know I have taken you for granted lately, please forgive me” and shares in the song that “It gets so cold quickly when you’re not here with me,” which is open and has “cross-over” potential as a “Gospel” song or a “love song” (which could be determined by the listener and how it resonates with them).

‘Love Is So Huge’ breaks up the project, stripped back, allowing for the message of the song (the love of God) to be heard easily… “So good to be saved, given a new name, had my shame taken by You, by You….” The arrangement of this song is beautiful and fresh, with the thick vocals and subtle harmonies and a string arrangement that lifts the song and gives it a sense of movement.

The title track ‘Care About The Journey’ is one of those title tracks that make complete sense. It’s not my favourite track of the project (as it almost feels like a half written song) but it summaries what ‘Care About The Journey’ is about; patience and not dismissing the process (journey) “We’ve just got to wait, be patient, hold on to the promise…”

Although ‘Care About The Journey’ has 8 tracks, if you take away ‘Intro,’ ‘Interlude,’ and ‘Outro,’ which aren’t full tracks listeners are still left with 5 solid tracks although ‘Ijo Ya’ isn’t a favourite, which is due (in part) to the fact that it doesn’t seem to fit on the project and seems like a random addition which doesn’t benefit the project.

On the remaining tracks, DavidB shines in his writing, his vocal delivery and production. ‘Care About The Journey’ serves it’s purpose of introducing DavidB to the world officially and shows enough of his musical palette to let listeners know where he’s able to go musically on a full album project. DavidB isn’t a “one trick pony” that sings well but is lyrically weak, or has terrible production and ‘Care About The journey’ shows all of this and more. My only regret for this project is ‘Love Is So Huge’. While it’s easy to understand why it’s been left stripped back, this may limit its potential as a big breakthrough song in churches. With the addition of bass and drums this would be an obvious choice for a Sunday morning worship song to be picked up by worship teams, and it’s hard not to think that this great song will slip by many worship leaders because of this.